Saltwater Hank - "Nii Wila Waalt"
Saltwater Hank is a First Nations Ts'msyen artist that combines his love of country and roots music with his own heritage. His upcoming album is written entirely in the Ts'msyen language Sm'algyax, and the first single is "Nii Wila Waalt." The song defies anything that you're expecting to hear. It's driven by a heavy, electric blues guitar along with some country style fiddle. "Nii Wila Waalt" is surprisingly heavy, and the combination of blues guitar with country fiddle would be enough to sell us on the song. But then you add in Saltwater Hank's traditional singing, and it just adds in an entirely new element. Sure, you're heard blues songs, country songs, and traditional First Nations music before, but never put together quite like this. Saltwater Hank says of his new song: "This is a series of natural events that indicate when we are supposed to harvest things. These protocols have been passed down since time immemorial, and are r...